If you haven’t yet been pulled in by the hype surrounding the fast-approaching Tyson Fury Vs. Francis Ngannou “Battle of the Baddest,” it’s entirely possible the new promo for the October 28 fight in Saudi Arabia will do it for you. The very expensive promo has to be seen, it really does. Referred to by some as ‘Quentin Tarantino-esque,” the approx minute-long presentation has Fury and Ngannou literally smashing and destroying all in their path as they get ready for the big fight.
With medicine balls blasting clean through brick walls, with sledgehammers smashing floors to smithereens, the promo is a whole lot of fun to watch. Fight fans who have seen it have certainly enjoyed the fun promo, and maybe this is the spirit that is lacking in certain quarters when it comes to this fight. Okay, it’s not a “real” fight, but it’s a show, a potentially entertaining one, and maybe we fans should lighten up a little. It’s not as though we’re not going to get the big one we all want afterwards, is it – what with Fury-Oleksandr Usyk reportedly done and dusted.
For now, look at Fury Vs. Ngannou as a spectacle, a slice of entertainment not to be taken too seriously. Back in the day, as far back as the early 1900s, the best in boxing engaged in exhibitions, so why not today? Again, Fury-Ngannou is not for the purists, but then neither was Muhammad Ali-Antonio Inoki. Okay, the difference there is, Ali, coming towards the end of his magnificent career, had EARNED the right to have some fun in the ring in a perceived easy knockabout (although, ironically, Ali suffered some very real pain in the fight, his legs swelling up badly from the many kicks the Japanese wrestler whacked him with; Ali suffering from blood clots).
Fury, who his critics rightly point out, has really only got two genuinely impressive scalps on his record – Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder – should be having real fights against real contenders, not messing around with Ngannou. But we can’t change it, we might as well enjoy it, and for now, the promo hyping Fury Vs. Ngannou is well worth checking out.
The one concern here, however, is this: as good as the promo is, the fight itself will not come close to being as great! Again, make of the October 28 fight what you will, but the folks behind the fight sure know how to sell a fight. Watch the promo and tell me with honesty you are not at least tempted to fork out to watch the fight later this month!
